Hospitality Consumer Behaviour and Insights

This report explores the influence of factors on consumer behaviour and attitude in the hospitality industry. It discusses the changes in consumer preferences due to digital technology and provides insights into the stages of consumer decision making. It also highlights the importance of mapping a path of purchase for marketers. The report compares the decision-making process in B2C and B2B contexts and explores market research approaches. It concludes with an evaluation of how marketers influence different stages of decision making.

Hospitality Consumer
Behaviour and Insights

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 : Influence of factors on consumer behaviour & attitude...................................................................3
P2 : Changes in consumer preferences of the digital technology............................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 : Stages related to the consumer decision making & path of purchasing in a hospitality service......6
P4 : Importance for marketer to map a path of purchase and consumer decision making.....................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B ...................9
P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process..................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making .................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................13

INRODUCTION
Consumer behavior is a study which is basically related to how consumers purchase, use such
goods and they dispose. There are many factors because of which the consumer behavior is
affected such as the social class, culture or the sub culture such factors have a very strong
influence on the overall behavior of consumer decision making (Wang, and Yu, 2016). This
report is based in Hilton hotel which is a global brand and was founded in may, 1919. This re[ort
is based on understanding of the consumer behavior and various factors associated with it which
is used by companies in the hospitality sector in forming various marketing strategies.
TASK 1
P1 : Influence of factors on consumer behaviour & attitude
Consumer behavior is concerned to the study of how customers whether individuals in
individual purchase, group purchase, dispose of services and goods. Consumer behavior is used
in examining influencing of mental state and emotional state and they perceive based on the
buying behavior. It will help the marketers in identification of goods which need to be placed in
the external environment so that expectations of customers based on the demands of their
customers (Verhoef, Kooge and Walk, 2016). Consumer decision making is a process used for
taking various actions and deciding by various consumers for making a purchase of goods or
services. The various factors which influence the consumer decision making process is described
below:
Cultural factors: Cultural factors are related to the perception, value & beliefs which is mostly
formed because of sub culture and culture in the consumers. It helps in dividing consumers
according to various different classes such as lower class, medium class and upper class.
According to such factors consumers make a decision in selecting a hotel. In case of Hilton also
this criteria is followed by customers.
Social factors: It includes those factors with whom the consumer posses very close relations
who are friends, family and many others who are having a direct affect on the decision making
behavior of the consumers. In the hospitality industry this decision is based on how a a person is
raised and this mental attitude which have. If a person stays in a reasonable priced hotel with
facilities they prefer such hotels and then have a better life.

Personal factors: These are those factors which are related to life cycle, age, economic
conditions etc. they have a direct influence on the behavior of consumers. In the context of
hospitality if the consumers are of young gage then preference is more for a place where all
facilities are present under one roof. This may lead to a hotel which is having all the facilities.
Psychological factors: such factors include perception, learning and other factors. They have a
direct influence soon the overall behavior of customers. In the hospitality industry consumer
decision is based on the opinion of others.
The challenge is faced by people who are working in the hospitality industry so as to meet the
changing expectations of customers. Various dimensions crucial for this are:
 Tangible: This is related to the physical facilities which can be visible to the customers
according to the requirements which can provide quality services.
 Assurance: This is related to the aim which employees of the organization need to posses
so that they are able to satisfy their customers.
 Reliability: When the promises made to the customers are fulfilled then there is
increased quality which is being delivered to them.
In case of Hilton the company follows all the above mentioned factors to improve the quality of
their services.
P2 : Changes in consumer preferences of the digital technology
Consumer behaviour is always affected by factors such as technology, social and many
other such related factors (Rezaei, 2015). Digital technology is the fastest growing factor which
has a great influence on the way information related to a particular product or service is being
accessed by a consumer. It helps in making a prospective consumer aware of t he product or
service in which the organisation is dealing with. Also, the changing attitude of the consumers
also has a great impact on the way consumers are being informed and approached. This has
become very essential especially for the companies who are working in the hospitality industry
that they have to use digital technology approaches sop that they are able to use creativity and
innovation techniques in approaching their target segment of customers. There are many

consumer trends which are emerging that have to be taken care of by such organisations which
are being discussed below:
Catering to millennial generation: Millenials is the targeted segment of most of the
organizations in today’s time. They are the segment which have increased expectations and they
are willing to avail services at higher cost also if the quality is according to their
demands(Rezaei,2015). In case of Hospitality industry they are focusing on the millennial
generation for identification of the needs of such generation and then satisfying them.
 New roles for whole staff: Consumers always prefer check in or doing their bookings in
the digital manner so that they are able to save their tome and have convenience. For
which it becomes important that adequate training is being given to the staff so that they
are able to deal with such changes in the technology.
 Increases focus up on health: Consumers are becoming very health conscious nowadays
this leads to a situation of the companies operating in the hospitality industry becoming
more concern towards taking measures which can help them in catering to the changing
needs of their customers. There are various facilities such as pools, yoga, gym facilities
which have been started by all their guests so that they can attract more customers.
Impact of changing trends in Technology: up gradation of technology has changed the way in
which the preferences of customers are changing such as they are preferring bookings with the
help of websites and new applications. For meeting such customer needs the companies are
adopting latest technologies which can help them in meeting the needs of consumers (Ramya,.
and Mohamed Ali, 2016).
 Promotion of the Destination: Social media platforms are increasing this is helping in
increasing the attractiveness of a particular location. It has become necessary to promote
a particular destination so that customers are attracted towards it because of the
destination.
Above mentioned are some of the changing patterns of consumer trends which is
happening because of the up gradation and innovation in the digital technology.

TASK 2
P3 : Stages related to the consumer decision making & path of purchasing in a hospitality
service
Consumer decision making process: It is a process which is helping a consumer in
identification of needs, gathering of information and analysing them so as to select a best course
of alternative which is best suitable according to the needs of the customer(Petersen,, Kushwaha,
and Kumar, 2015). The overall buying decisions of the consumers. The overall buying decision
of the consumer is affected by the psychological factors, social factors etc. This is a very
complex process which will help the marketer in making the product in the market. This process
will help in dealing with various stages of the consumer decision making process:
 Need Recognition: Consumer decision making process is very helpful in the consumers’
identification of needs, evaluating them and then making a final purchase. The buying
decision of various consumers is affected by the need of the consumers. Determine the
needs of customers will help marketers in formulating their marketing strategies.
 Searching information: After the need has been identified then consumers have to
collect the information about various courses of alternatives which are available with
them. The information related to such alternative courses are collected through
commercial sources of information, printed materials etc.
 Evaluation the alternatives: After the alternative course have been identifies then such
sources have to be evaluated based on the positive and negative aspects which re
associated with such options. In terms of costing, quantity , quality and various other
attributes a particular factor is selected by the consumer(Pappas., 2016).
 Actual Purchase: After all the courses have been evaluated then a particular action is
elected based on the analysis which has been done in the earlier steps. A particular
decision is made at this stage which will help in satisfaction of the needs of the customer.
 Post-purchase: This stage is there after the consumer has made the purchase . in this
stage the product is evaluated by the consumers according to its usefulness, the
satisfaction which is being derived and other factors.

 In order to map a path for particular service it is very essential for a event such a conference
which should be done. The value of this process of mapping has dual benefits:
 Pre-purchase: the consumer will be indentifying the hotel in which they are able to conduct
the conferences. The occupancy should be very satisfactory so to meet their demands of the
guests. For this the number of hotels will be identified.
 Purchase: After the research has been conducted and hotels have been evaluated based on
the quality of services which they are providing. Hilton Hotel is also a four star rating hotel
having a good conference room and trained staff members. There is adequate number of
facilities present in this hotel which can be helpful in satisfying the needs of their guests.
Also, the location of this hotel is in the middle of the city which makes it easy to access for
the people because of it central location.
 Receive: At this stage the actual service is being availed by the consumer. In such case,
consumers will be receiving the service of the hotel for the purpose of conference. If the
services which will be actually experienced will be according to the expectations then it will
be help in establishment of consumer loyalty for the consumers. Also, this will help in
establishment of consumer loyalty if their expectations are met by the services of the hotel
(Mihaela, 2015).
 Post-purchase: In this stage the consumer will make a final analysis of the service which is
provided against what was promised to them by the hotel. This will help the consumer in
understanding whether there is any kind of deviations or nay differences which can posses a
dissatisfaction feeling between them. If the conference took well and there was all the
service according to the expectations of the consumer this will lead to high consumer
satisfaction and repeated purchase of service.
P4 : Importance for marketer to map a path of purchase and consumer decision making
Each business is operated with a particular motive that is to have maximum satisfaction of
their customers. The overall process of consumer decision making helps the marketers in
considering various aspects of the consumers while they are making a purchase. The
overall importance of path mapping for making a purchase by marketer is discussed below:

 Unified data of customers: mapping is a process which helps in organising of the data
related to the customers which has to be arranged so that data related to various customers
can be arranged according to the various target segments. Such division of the target
segment will help in focussing on a particular segment at particular point of time(Maniatis,
2016).
 Increase in the Return on Investment: Mapping is a process which is very helpful in
understanding of the customers and their overall buying behaviour. This will help the
company and its marketing department in forming strategies according to the exact needs of
their customers. This in turn will be very helpful in increasing the overall sales and this will
has a positive effect on the return on investment of the company.
Mapping will help Hilton in making various important decisions are a particular point.
Also, there are various levels at which such decision making is needed:
 Extensive solving of problems: This is a level at which consumers purchasing goods which
are not familiar. This leads to taking of a lot of time by the consumers. Detailed information
and research is also required to be done in this case when goods are being purchased or
services have to be experience for the first time.
 Limited solving of problem: It is that level where consumers purchase products based on
familiarity of alternatives which are available. For analysing various differences extra efforts
ahs to be put by the consumers (Karimi, Papamichail and Holland, 2015).
 Routine solving of problems: This is a level where consumers have to purchase goods and
little or no information. These are goods of necessity nature.
There are basically four types of views with regards to hospitality decision:
Economic view: in this model main focus is on the cost which is associated with various
products and services. In case of Hospitality sector consumer identifies the overall costing of
rooms and various services provided by the hotel in case of Hilton also the target customers
try to assess the cost associated with the availing of services.

Cognitive view: In this the consumer takes decisions based on interest and understanding.
Marketers provide short cuts so as to make decisions with regards to attractive packages.
Emotional view: In this view, decisions are being made based on emotions which are related to
the consumers for example: if a person is visiting a particular hotel since child hood. Then
preference for that hotel will be maximum.
Passive view: this is the opposite of the economic view as in this as in are made based on the
promotional activities which are being conducted by the marketer. In case of hospitality sector
marketers promote various destinations. Hilton has a presence across different parts of world
which gives them a opportunity to make people attracted towards it by marketing the destination
(Frederiks, Stenner and Hobman).
Factors having influence on consumers decision making:
Influence of marketing mix: many elements such as price, product, promotion and place will
affect the whole process of decision making while they are selecting a particular service.
Influence of Heuristics: In this consumer can take shortcuts so as to make decisions which can
influence in the whole process of decision making.
TASK 3
P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B
B2B & B2C are basic two ways of conducting transactions between the customers and
organisations. B2B is a place in which business to business transactions taking place and in B2C
is between business and consumers(Charter and Polonsky, 2017). Hilton as a big brand also has
both process B2B and B2C in their functioning. Which will help in conducting of their various
functions.
Basis B2B B2C
Meaning In this services and goods can be
sold to other business various raw
materials are purchase from other
business such as tissue papers.
In this goods & services which are
provided to the final consumers so
as to satisfy the needs of food
which is being served to their
customers.
Customer Customers are organisations in
case of hospitality and restaurants
The end user in case of B2C is
always the consumer. The

can be customer for hotels as they
are providing the food to their
customers.
customer orders food and does the
bookings.
Focus Focus is to maintain a relationship
with businesses. Hotels focuses on
maintaining of relationship with
the restaurants.
The focus is on the products which
has to be sold to customers. For
example hotel focuses on their
customers.
Relationship The relationship can be between
manufacturers, suppliers and
various wholesalers.
The relationship is between the
retailer and customer.
P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process
Market research will help the marketers in identifying the present market situation
according to the demands of customers. Research is done based on various competitive
methods. Appropriate method is selected is very important for improving the quality of
research.
Market research approach in B2B: It is with concern to other form of business source
which is used is secondary. The data is already organised and used for the future purpose to
maintain healthy relationships with other business. Various sources of collecting data are:
Publications: the various newspaper publications such as magazines and newspaper will help
the organisation to make decisions which can influence the relations with supplier(Carpenter.
and Yoon, 2015).
Market research approaches: this is in concern with how much authentic is the data
collected. This is the primary source hence the data should be very reliable and authentic.
Based on such information marketer’s frame their strategies. Some sources of primary data
are:
Questionnaire: With the help of questionnaires marketers can collect data according to the
wants and needs of customers. It will help in identification of factors which will affect the
buying behaviour.

Interviews: With the help of interviews detailed information can be collected by
customization of questions which can be asked according to the needed information(Banerjee.,
2017).
Above mentioned are some of the sources which are being used by the Hilton Hotel in
assessing their target customers.
TASK 4
P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making
Consumers are the major source for earning for companies in the hospitality industry so as
to consider the needs of their potential customers so as to gain competitiveness in the market.
Marketer has to specify that business is playing a very significant role in driving their customers
so as to buy their products or services(Ashman, Solomon. and Wolny, 2015). In case of Hilton,
the consumer is attracted by the quality of services which they provide on their business
operations. Such quality helps in assessment of the customer view on particular hotel. In this
hotel they are able to satisfy the needs of their customers in the best possible way. The hotel
overall focuses on increasing the perceive value of their customers. The satisfaction derived from
the service has to be more than the monetary amount which consumer is paying. Various
arrangements like picking up service, dropping up service are provided to customers additionally
which helps in increasing the overall quality of service.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that it is important for every organisation who is operating in the
hospitality sector to satisfy the needs of their customers. Customer satisfaction is the most
important key which can help organisations in establishing a understanding of the various factors
which is prevailing in the macro environment and has a impact on overall behaviour of
consumers.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Ashman, R., Solomon, M.R. and Wolny, J., 2015. An old model for a new age: Consumer
decision making in participatory digital culture. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 14(2),
pp.127-146.
Banerjee, S.B., 2017. Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing:
Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40).
Routledge.
Carpenter, S.M. and Yoon, C., 2015. Aging and consumer decision making. In Aging and
decision making (pp. 351-370). Academic Press.
Charter, M. and Polonsky, M.J., 2017. Greener marketing: a global perspective on greening
marketing practice. Routledge.
Frederiks, E.R., Stenner, K. and Hobman, E.V., 2015. Household energy use: Applying
behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and
behaviour. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41, pp.1385-1394.
Karimi, S., Papamichail, K.N. and Holland, C.P., 2015. The effect of prior knowledge and
decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of
consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, pp.137-147.
Maniatis, P., 2016. Investigating factors influencing consumer decision-making while choosing
green products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, pp.215-228.
Mihaela, O.O.E., 2015. The influence of the integrated marketing communication on the
consumer buying behaviour. Procedia economics and finance, 23, pp.1446-1450.
Pappas, N., 2016. Marketing strategies, perceived risks, and consumer trust in online buying
behaviour. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 29, pp.92-103.
Petersen, J.A., Kushwaha, T. and Kumar, V., 2015. Marketing communication strategies and
consumer financial decision making: The role of national culture. Journal of
Marketing, 79(1), pp.44-63.
Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying
behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.
Rezaei, S., 2015. Segmenting consumer decision-making styles (CDMS) toward marketing
practice: A partial least squares (PLS) path modeling approach. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 22, pp.1-15.
Rezaei, S., 2015. Segmenting consumer decision-making styles (CDMS) toward marketing
practice: A partial least squares (PLS) path modeling approach. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 22, pp.1-15.

Verhoef, P.C., Kooge, E. and Walk, N., 2016. Creating value with big data analytics: Making
smarter marketing decisions. Routledge.
Wang, Y. and Yu, C., 2017. Social interaction-based consumer decision-making model in social
commerce: The role of word of mouth and observational learning. International Journal
of Information Management, 37(3), pp.179-189.
Xu, Z., Frankwick, G.L. and Ramirez, E., 2016. Effects of big data analytics and traditional
marketing analytics on new product success: A knowledge fusion perspective. Journal
of Business Research, 69(5), pp.1562-1566.